who will be the next hc at UNT

Coach Bill Lewis · October 30, 2015

If Fritz won't leave what about calling Mickey Mathews? He is a good coach and has had success at the smaller school level.

Ben Gooding · October 30, 2015

I'll answer your question. No.
I also hope we don't offer that big of a contract.
5yr 7.5M is steep. That is a lot of buyout money. If we do offer that we have to be 100% sure it is not just a good hire, but a great hire to the point that someone will be paying us for his services elsewhere.

I just looked back at this and subconsciously typed the bold. That is where this program is at. Thanks in large part to Rick Villareal. I have no faith in anything UNT related that I am looking at potential buyout costs. We should just quit.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 30, 2015

@ValleyBoy do you thing Georgia Southern would match $1.5M/Yr?

I keep hearing these kinds of numbers being thrown around, so I'll keep asking . . . Do you have any basis for expecting us to pay a coach in that range?

Greendylan · October 30, 2015

If Fritz won't leave what about calling Mickey Mathews? He is a good coach and has had success at the smaller school level.

He does fit a lot of the criteria, and hell, he knows how to beat SMU. But, I suspect we will steer away from another sexagenarian.

Cerebus · October 30, 2015

I keep hearing these kinds of numbers being thrown around, so I'll keep asking . . . Do you have any basis for expecting us to pay a coach in that range?

SilverEagle · October 30, 2015

Thomsen is someone exactly who I described. Someone no one has heard of and will get no one excited. For the better part of his career he has also been an OL coach. He had a nice little stint at ACU, but who cares. In about 5 years this will get us right around exactly where we are. In other words, this guy is on RV's short list.

And how many people,other than all us experts, have heard of Willie Fritz?

Ben Gooding · October 30, 2015

And how many people,other than all us experts, have heard of Willie Fritz?

I have heard of him before, but I know most people have not. But then again I am not a fan of the possibility of hiring Fritz.

Though I am a fan of going all out on the triple option as I have stated several times. It keeps teams in games and eventually when a program learns to win it allows a team to win games. We could proudly hang our hat on, "Oh yeah, UNT, the program that went out on a limb in the state of Texas and ran the triple option and consistently wins 7 games a year." I'm all in on the idea of it. We can't recruit. Never have consistently been able to. Even with a splash hire the trend upward will only last so long for us to go so far. We need a system in place.

Greendylan · October 30, 2015

I have heard of him before, but I know most people have not. But then again I am not a fan of the possibility of hiring Fritz.
Though I am a fan of going all out on the triple option as I have stated several times. It keeps teams in games and eventually when a program learns to win it allows a team to win games. We could proudly hang our hat on, "Oh yeah, UNT, the program that went out on a limb in the state of Texas and ran the triple option and consistently wins 7 games a year." I'm all in on the idea of it. We can't recruit. Never have consistently been able to. Even with a splash hire the trend upward will only last so long for us to go so far. We need a system in place.

Not to diminish any of what you're saying, but Fritz would not necessarily bring the triple option here (or wherever else outside of GSU).

SilverEagle · October 30, 2015

The part about coaching at the D-II level, which is only a step above TX High School football.

....and right now our program is a step above who?

Edited October 30, 2015 by SilverEagle

untjim1995 · October 30, 2015

The bigger question is who will be interested in this job. We all want to put our Mean Green Glasses on and be homers, but the list of candidates won't really be known until the regular season ends, just to see who will be available.

Assuming that salary isn't an issue and that we pay a coach in excess of $750k for upwards of 5 years, that won't eliminate anyone from potential candidates, per se. But the current roster, the current state of UNT's recruiting, and having an inept athletic director will hurt us in some fashion. How much? I don't know. Also, the fact that no other coach has gotten hired away from here since Jerry Moore did in 1981 to Texas Tech will scare away a few.

The facilities for a G5 school, and our conference affiliation should help us. Plus, any coach that sees this as a true opportunity to move up will see that you cannot take over a program (that isn't on probation) in a worse situation. Winning 4+ games would be considered a huge miracle in either year 1 or year 2. So as far as expectations go, you're going to get here with very little expectations from the fanbase to get to a winning season in the next few years--you're gonna get time to get a QB here that runs an offense that fits your system and can grow into the role. If we can get an easier schedule next year in CUSA play combined with only one bodybag game, I think getting 2-3 wins will be possible next season. Reasonably, to go from this offense we have now to a more modern offense will take years of recruiting to rebuild. This isn't even accounting for the fact that the most disappointing facet of the McCarney era was that his specialty of developing the lines fell flat in the last two years, to the point that we have very little size and talent in those areas. And then add in the fact that you have a locker room full of kids that have shown that quitting on the coach and school isn't out of the question, it just equals a very rough situation to come into. IMHO, we are going to have to face the reality that the next coach will not get us to a bowl again for 3+ years, that in Year 4, we might finally get a bowl season after three bad ones. That's entirely plausible at this point, as you dig out of the canyon we are in right now because of recruiting deficiencies and a roster built for a running game, not a passing one. It'll obviously depend on the QB and how fast the coach can get players to fit his offensive scheme, but Damarcus Smith is the only QB on the roster who MIGHT be a fit for a new offense. The others are really FCS caliber, at best.

Its a very real possibility that we may not win more than 3 games between now and the end of next season--and even that number might be overly optimistic, depending on how the schedule plays out and who will add/subtract from the roster.

SilverEagle · October 30, 2015

I want a coach that is energetic, hungry, and can sell himself and our program to ANYONE......starting with North Texas alums and students. I don't care if he coached at D-2. If he can turn around a (even by our standards) underfunded program and get the community excited about football again, then bring him on.

Both of the guys that I mentioned played college football and spent many years making contacts with the Texas coaching community. Those contacts got them players that won championships, took them to the playoffs and, and got them several players that were NFL draft picks. When was the last time we had a draft pick?

I want someone who REALLY wants to be here, not someone that has to be wooed with just money......... and came here because he wasn't picked for his dream job.

I want someone who, when presented with the "challenges" of being the head coach of North Texas gets excited and his eyes get bigger and he says "Man! that's a lot of work, but I love that kind of challenge!.....when can I start because times a wastin'.

I DON'T want a coach that thinks that by his mere presence (and previous coaching stints) all our challenges will just melt away. I've had all of that I can stand with the Bob Tylers, Todd Dodges and Dan McCarneys of the world.

MeanGreenTexan · October 30, 2015

....and right now our program is a step above who?

What kind of question is this? UNT is an FBS program! Quite a bit different from D-II.

Todd Dodge never went 0-fer. Using the flawed logic above, we should just bring him back because we're not a step above him?

Time to aim high. The Carthel gentlemen are not the answer.

wardly · October 30, 2015

The UCF job will pay more and is closer to his recruiting base. Just saying.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 30, 2015

The UCF job will pay more and is closer to his recruiting base. Just saying.

Which recruiting base? You do know that he's spent 16 years coaching in Texas, right? That's quite a bit more than his year and a half in Georgia.

I think you're assuming too much if you're assuming UCF is going after him: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/college-gridiron-365/os-top-candidates-for-ucf-coaching-job-20151025-post.html

Edited October 30, 2015 by Mean Green 93-98

Coach Bill Lewis · October 31, 2015

http://footballscoop.com/news/minority-head-coaching-candidates-that-warrant-a-closer-look/

GMG24 · October 31, 2015

too many possibilities, many of the better candidates have not as of yet been even mentioned.
methinks it will play out similar to Mac...none of us had a clue he was even in the mix until he was named.

Chris Tomsen according to MANY in the Tx hsfb coaching realm. He's been an HC BEFORE, coached at acu as grad assistant, been at tech under leach, coached bowl for him, been at ASU as Oline coach... Makes about 500 k now... Why not?! He's been in some incredible systems and they've been winners... Take a shot NT

gksmith · November 8, 2015

Dino Babers

Aren't we running into the same problem we had with the previous 3-4 coaches? What kind of commitment will he have to a program he has no connections? I realize there is no former UNT player in the coaching ranks but is Dino going to be another band aide for a few years?

FirefightnRick · November 22, 2015

Not to diminish any of what you're saying, but Fritz would not necessarily bring the triple option here (or wherever else outside of GSU).

Gosh I sure hope he wouldn't. It's old school, you can't succeed with it and of course who can forget...today's High School recruits won't want to come to a program and run it.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/11/21/michels-td-gives-georgia-23-17-ot-win-over-georgia-southern/76203684/

Rick

Greenrex · November 22, 2015

I could see us offering Fritz but Georgia Southern matching. I think it'll be someone who has won as an FBS head coach before, like Mccarney. That way RV can say he hired the most qualified person and it wasn't his fault it didn't work out.
I'll say Derek Dooley.

I think you make a good point regarding the current AD.
I must say though, hiring Derek Dooley would probably be the straw that breaks this old man's back.

greenit · November 22, 2015

Gosh I sure hope he wouldn't. It's old school, you can't succeed with it and of course who can forget...today's High School recruits won't want to come to a program and run it.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2015/11/21/michels-td-gives-georgia-23-17-ot-win-over-georgia-southern/76203684/

Rick

Moral victory?

FirefightnRick · November 22, 2015

Moral victory?

Yeah, moral victory

Rick

greenit · November 22, 2015

Yeah, moral victory

Rick

My mistake. For some reason I thought you were talking about the Georgia Southern game. They played great.

UNTexas · November 22, 2015

too many possibilities, many of the better candidates have not as of yet been even mentioned.
methinks it will play out similar to Mac...none of us had a clue he was even in the mix until he was named.

I'm guessing Briles will at least be offered for a couple of reasons. Name recognition, Recruiting (Big 12 recruiter of the year & knows Texas), young guy currently at a good P5 school, and he'd implement a 2016 offensive strategy.

He's a safe hire for RV. RV is on thin ice and he knows it. Only the eternally negative would say he's a bad hire. Plus, I think he'd get the job done. He's got a future, not a past like the last few coaches. Just a guess though...

Edited November 22, 2015 by UNTexas

GM1998 · November 22, 2015

Not to diminish any of what you're saying, but Fritz would not necessarily bring the triple option here (or wherever else outside of GSU).

Why wouldn't he? The teams that run a form of the option do well. Georgia Tech is having a down year, but they are usually in the hunt for the ACC title w/ an option system. They play in a P5 conference! Navy is killing it this year and is a perennial post season team. Navy has this success with a smaller recruiting pool than UNT.

Bob Davie has New Mexico, a team that struggles similar to UNT for wins/respect, winning 6 games this year with an option offense. I realize some on here think it is a antiquated offense, however if we can get to the post season consistently with this system I think we all would be happy.

It isn't like what we have been doing has been working... Remember we just lost to MTSU like they were the University of Tennessee.

WestTexasEagle · November 22, 2015

The more I think about it I wonder if we shouldn't take the TCU approach and hire an energy defensive wizard as a coach. A couple of respectable defense years, followed by a couple of dominant defense years, will yield wins which is really what yields recruits. I graduated from Penn State and the smash mouth defense is a culture that all fans are proud of. Patterson did the same thing at TCU making average players defensive hard hitting studs. Defense changes the entire mentality to a strong and winning culture, though we all agree explosive offense is more fun to watch. I'd still start at the foundation of defense. I'd love to see a reputation for toughness at NT....but maybe I just feel that way after watching every team run right through us this year.....